Erythropoietin or hemopoietin is a cytokine secreted by the kidneys to trigger red blood cell production in bone marrow. A constant supply of erythropoietin is secreted to compensate for normal turnover of red blood cells. Red blood cells carry oxygen, so when oxygen levels are too low, the body tries to correct this by stimulating the production of additional blood cells. Colony-stimulating factors, or CSFs, are another type of cytokine necessary for differentiation of blood cells from stem cells in the bone marrow.

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